Joao Barbosa
@jbarbosa.org
INSERM group leader @ Neuromodulation Institute and NeuroSpin (Paris) in computational neuroscience.
How and why are computations enabling cognition distributed across the brain?
Expect neuroscience and ML content.
jbarbosa.org
How and why are computations enabling cognition distributed across the brain?
Expect neuroscience and ML content.
jbarbosa.org
Pinned
Joao Barbosa
@jbarbosa.org
· Feb 2
A good time to repost this banger from 'The Responsibility of Intellectuals' by Noam Chomsky in '67
Vance is absolutely correct: universities are - and must be - the enemy.
This is why the Right is attacking scholarship globally. They want to end the privilege Chomsky's talking about in 67
Vance is absolutely correct: universities are - and must be - the enemy.
This is why the Right is attacking scholarship globally. They want to end the privilege Chomsky's talking about in 67
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
Connectome datasets alone are generally not sufficient to predict neural activity. However, pairing connectivity information with neural recordings can produce accurate predictions of activity in unrecorded neurons
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Prediction of neural activity in connectome-constrained recurrent networks - Nature Neuroscience
The authors show that connectome datasets alone are generally not sufficient to predict neural activity. However, pairing connectivity information with neural recordings can produce accurate predictio...
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Connectome datasets alone are generally not sufficient to predict neural activity. However, pairing connectivity information with neural recordings can produce accurate predictions of activity in unrecorded neurons
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
Our next paper on comparing dynamical systems (with special interest to artificial and biological neural networks) is out!! Joint work with @annhuang42.bsky.social , as well as @satpreetsingh.bsky.social , @leokoz8.bsky.social , Ila Fiete, and @kanakarajanphd.bsky.social : arxiv.org/pdf/2510.25943
November 10, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Our next paper on comparing dynamical systems (with special interest to artificial and biological neural networks) is out!! Joint work with @annhuang42.bsky.social , as well as @satpreetsingh.bsky.social , @leokoz8.bsky.social , Ila Fiete, and @kanakarajanphd.bsky.social : arxiv.org/pdf/2510.25943
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
🚨🧠🚨 POSTDOC POSITION 🚨🧠🚨 in my lab: www.ru.nl/en/working-a... Connectivity in Working Memory. Deadline 12 Nov! Apply via website; please repost.
Postdoc Position: Neural Circuitry Underlying Working Memory | Radboud University
Do you want to work as a Postdoc Position: Neural Circuitry Underlying Working Memory at the Faculty of Social Sciences? Check our vacancy!
www.ru.nl
November 9, 2025 at 9:17 AM
🚨🧠🚨 POSTDOC POSITION 🚨🧠🚨 in my lab: www.ru.nl/en/working-a... Connectivity in Working Memory. Deadline 12 Nov! Apply via website; please repost.
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
I’m looking for interns to join our lab for a project on foundation models in neuroscience.
Funded by @ivado.bsky.social and in collaboration with the IVADO regroupement 1 (AI and Neuroscience: ivado.ca/en/regroupem...).
Interested? See the details in the comments. (1/3)
🧠🤖
Funded by @ivado.bsky.social and in collaboration with the IVADO regroupement 1 (AI and Neuroscience: ivado.ca/en/regroupem...).
Interested? See the details in the comments. (1/3)
🧠🤖
AI and Neuroscience | IVADO
ivado.ca
November 7, 2025 at 1:52 PM
I’m looking for interns to join our lab for a project on foundation models in neuroscience.
Funded by @ivado.bsky.social and in collaboration with the IVADO regroupement 1 (AI and Neuroscience: ivado.ca/en/regroupem...).
Interested? See the details in the comments. (1/3)
🧠🤖
Funded by @ivado.bsky.social and in collaboration with the IVADO regroupement 1 (AI and Neuroscience: ivado.ca/en/regroupem...).
Interested? See the details in the comments. (1/3)
🧠🤖
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
Episode #34 in #TheoreticalNeurosciencePodcast: On balanced neural networks – with Nicolas Brunel
theoreticalneuroscience.no/thn34
Cortical neurons seem to receive about the same amount of excitation and inhibition. One of the founders of this key idea in 1990s explains.
theoreticalneuroscience.no/thn34
Cortical neurons seem to receive about the same amount of excitation and inhibition. One of the founders of this key idea in 1990s explains.
November 8, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Episode #34 in #TheoreticalNeurosciencePodcast: On balanced neural networks – with Nicolas Brunel
theoreticalneuroscience.no/thn34
Cortical neurons seem to receive about the same amount of excitation and inhibition. One of the founders of this key idea in 1990s explains.
theoreticalneuroscience.no/thn34
Cortical neurons seem to receive about the same amount of excitation and inhibition. One of the founders of this key idea in 1990s explains.
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
Yes, our intelligence is our ability to work around our limitations. If we were omniscient we wouldn't need intelligence because we wouldn't need to work anything out, we'd just know it. Arguably this is close to the case for chess computers. Not for language, but training on all written text helps!
November 7, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Yes, our intelligence is our ability to work around our limitations. If we were omniscient we wouldn't need intelligence because we wouldn't need to work anything out, we'd just know it. Arguably this is close to the case for chess computers. Not for language, but training on all written text helps!
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
My prediction is that LLM peer review will slow down science. It will do this for precisely the same reasons that contemporary peer review does and some extra ones. Start by reading @hansonmark.bsky.social thread below, then read on. 🧵
Just tried q.e.d. by @odedrechavi.bsky.social et al. with a few papers including by myself & others where I knew a claim within was flawed based on a misunderstanding of the signal.
1) it was impressive. I see what the hype is about.
2) it hallucinated.
www.qedscience.com
Overly long #SciPub🧵 1/n
1) it was impressive. I see what the hype is about.
2) it hallucinated.
www.qedscience.com
Overly long #SciPub🧵 1/n
q.e.d Science
Critical Thinking AI for constructive criticism and science evaluation
www.qedscience.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:30 PM
My prediction is that LLM peer review will slow down science. It will do this for precisely the same reasons that contemporary peer review does and some extra ones. Start by reading @hansonmark.bsky.social thread below, then read on. 🧵
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
🚨Job alert🚨
The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour
This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour
This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
3 Postdoctoral Research Fellows
Champalimaud Foundation (Fundação D. Anna de Sommer Champalimaud e Dr.
euraxess.ec.europa.eu
November 4, 2025 at 5:11 PM
🚨Job alert🚨
The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour
This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
The lab has up to *3 postdoc openings* for comp systems neuroscientists interested in describing and manipulating neural population dynamics mediating behaviour
This is part of a collaborative ARIA grant "4D precision control of cortical dynamics"
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/383909
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
Now in PRX: Theory linking connectivity structure to collective activity in nonlinear RNNs!
For neuro fans: conn. structure can be invisible in single neurons but shape pop. activity
For low-rank RNN fans: a theory of rank=O(N)
For physics fans: fluctuations around DMFT saddle⇒dimension of activity
For neuro fans: conn. structure can be invisible in single neurons but shape pop. activity
For low-rank RNN fans: a theory of rank=O(N)
For physics fans: fluctuations around DMFT saddle⇒dimension of activity
Connectivity Structure and Dynamics of Nonlinear Recurrent Neural Networks
The structure of brain connectivity predicts collective neural activity, with a small number of connectivity features determining activity dimensionality, linking circuit architecture to network-level...
journals.aps.org
November 3, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Now in PRX: Theory linking connectivity structure to collective activity in nonlinear RNNs!
For neuro fans: conn. structure can be invisible in single neurons but shape pop. activity
For low-rank RNN fans: a theory of rank=O(N)
For physics fans: fluctuations around DMFT saddle⇒dimension of activity
For neuro fans: conn. structure can be invisible in single neurons but shape pop. activity
For low-rank RNN fans: a theory of rank=O(N)
For physics fans: fluctuations around DMFT saddle⇒dimension of activity
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
Personal bias but I liked this transmitter article: www.thetransmitter.org/systems-neur...
“You won’t catch an engineer trying to formulate a grand unified theory of the brain”
“Engineers know how to make things work […] This is what makes engineering closer to biology than to other […] sciences”
“You won’t catch an engineer trying to formulate a grand unified theory of the brain”
“Engineers know how to make things work […] This is what makes engineering closer to biology than to other […] sciences”
Neuroscience needs engineers—for more reasons than you think
Adopting an engineering mindset will help the field focus its research priorities.
www.thetransmitter.org
November 3, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Personal bias but I liked this transmitter article: www.thetransmitter.org/systems-neur...
“You won’t catch an engineer trying to formulate a grand unified theory of the brain”
“Engineers know how to make things work […] This is what makes engineering closer to biology than to other […] sciences”
“You won’t catch an engineer trying to formulate a grand unified theory of the brain”
“Engineers know how to make things work […] This is what makes engineering closer to biology than to other […] sciences”
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
I’d be the first to switch from NHPs to humans if I could decide where to record and do it under proper lab conditions.
And I might even see the day when brain electrodes are completely safe, and I can record from healthy volunteers.
But we’re not there yet (and it will take some 🐵s to get there).
And I might even see the day when brain electrodes are completely safe, and I can record from healthy volunteers.
But we’re not there yet (and it will take some 🐵s to get there).
November 3, 2025 at 11:44 AM
I’d be the first to switch from NHPs to humans if I could decide where to record and do it under proper lab conditions.
And I might even see the day when brain electrodes are completely safe, and I can record from healthy volunteers.
But we’re not there yet (and it will take some 🐵s to get there).
And I might even see the day when brain electrodes are completely safe, and I can record from healthy volunteers.
But we’re not there yet (and it will take some 🐵s to get there).
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
Proud to have contributed to @gaiabianchini.bsky.social and @flor-iacaruso.bsky.social new paper on how the superior colliculus temporally integrates multisensory information
Functional specialisation of multisensory temporal integration in the mouse superior colliculus - Nature Communications
Whether and how anatomically distinct regions of the superior colliculus (SC) exhibit specialisation in multisensory temporal integration to facilitate different behavioural responses are not fully un...
www.nature.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Proud to have contributed to @gaiabianchini.bsky.social and @flor-iacaruso.bsky.social new paper on how the superior colliculus temporally integrates multisensory information
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
Is science too obsessed with metrics, large-scale projects & “blockbuster” outputs? Desai & Jun argued that preserving the "auteur" spirit of individual creativity, exploration and risk-taking is essential for maintaining the creativity that drew us into science in the 1st place.
November 3, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Is science too obsessed with metrics, large-scale projects & “blockbuster” outputs? Desai & Jun argued that preserving the "auteur" spirit of individual creativity, exploration and risk-taking is essential for maintaining the creativity that drew us into science in the 1st place.
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
NEW from me:
Political hostility, high visa fees and (in the case of the UK) stagnant incomes are making the UK and US less attractive destinations for top international talent.
That steep decline in the appeal of moving to the US after 2016 is 👀
Political hostility, high visa fees and (in the case of the UK) stagnant incomes are making the UK and US less attractive destinations for top international talent.
That steep decline in the appeal of moving to the US after 2016 is 👀
October 31, 2025 at 2:32 PM
NEW from me:
Political hostility, high visa fees and (in the case of the UK) stagnant incomes are making the UK and US less attractive destinations for top international talent.
That steep decline in the appeal of moving to the US after 2016 is 👀
Political hostility, high visa fees and (in the case of the UK) stagnant incomes are making the UK and US less attractive destinations for top international talent.
That steep decline in the appeal of moving to the US after 2016 is 👀
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
🚨New spotlight paper at Neurips 2025🚨
We show that in sign-diverse networks, inherent non-gradient “curl” terms arise, and can, depending on network architecture, destabilize gradient-descent solutions or paradoxically accelerate learning beyond pure gradient flow.
🧵⬇️
www.arxiv.org/abs/2510.02765
We show that in sign-diverse networks, inherent non-gradient “curl” terms arise, and can, depending on network architecture, destabilize gradient-descent solutions or paradoxically accelerate learning beyond pure gradient flow.
🧵⬇️
www.arxiv.org/abs/2510.02765
Curl Descent: Non-Gradient Learning Dynamics with Sign-Diverse Plasticity
Gradient-based algorithms are a cornerstone of artificial neural network training, yet it remains unclear whether biological neural networks use similar gradient-based strategies during learning. Expe...
www.arxiv.org
October 10, 2025 at 5:53 PM
🚨New spotlight paper at Neurips 2025🚨
We show that in sign-diverse networks, inherent non-gradient “curl” terms arise, and can, depending on network architecture, destabilize gradient-descent solutions or paradoxically accelerate learning beyond pure gradient flow.
🧵⬇️
www.arxiv.org/abs/2510.02765
We show that in sign-diverse networks, inherent non-gradient “curl” terms arise, and can, depending on network architecture, destabilize gradient-descent solutions or paradoxically accelerate learning beyond pure gradient flow.
🧵⬇️
www.arxiv.org/abs/2510.02765
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
I beg your pardon?
November 1, 2025 at 4:59 AM
I beg your pardon?
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
ladies and gentlemen...we got him
October 30, 2025 at 7:10 PM
ladies and gentlemen...we got him
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
The International Criminal Court (ICC) will switch its internal work environment away from Microsoft Office to Open Desk, a European open source alternative. The switch comes amid rising concerns about public bodies being reliant on US tech companies.
www.euractiv.com/news/interna...
www.euractiv.com/news/interna...
International Criminal Court to ditch Microsoft Office for European open source alternative | Euractiv
The court will move its internal work environment to Open Desk, a German-developed open source software
www.euractiv.com
October 30, 2025 at 11:22 AM
The International Criminal Court (ICC) will switch its internal work environment away from Microsoft Office to Open Desk, a European open source alternative. The switch comes amid rising concerns about public bodies being reliant on US tech companies.
www.euractiv.com/news/interna...
www.euractiv.com/news/interna...
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
Revised version of our #NeurIPS2025 paper with full code base in Julia & Python now online, see arxiv.org/abs/2505.13192
October 28, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Revised version of our #NeurIPS2025 paper with full code base in Julia & Python now online, see arxiv.org/abs/2505.13192
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
Cheating with an LLM is the easiest thing in the world for a student to do, but it creates a massive, laborious headache for a prof, if you intend to take it seriously. There’s meetings, emails, discussions, moral dilemmas. It’s just incredibly burdensome, on top of everything else right now.
I had 9 meetings about students using Chat GPT/LLMs on their papers today.
If you want to know why professors burn out, ask anyone trying to teach critical thinking and writing skills to Freshmen....
If you want to know why professors burn out, ask anyone trying to teach critical thinking and writing skills to Freshmen....
October 28, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Cheating with an LLM is the easiest thing in the world for a student to do, but it creates a massive, laborious headache for a prof, if you intend to take it seriously. There’s meetings, emails, discussions, moral dilemmas. It’s just incredibly burdensome, on top of everything else right now.
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
#EPFL has an open faculty position - tenure track or tenured!! - in AI driven biophysics. Deadline is Nov 15th. Please spread the word!
www.epfl.ch/about/workin...
www.epfl.ch/about/workin...
Assistant/associate Professor of AI-assisted Biophysics at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Group Leader at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI)
The School of Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) at EPFL and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) jointly seek to appoint a Tenure Track Assistant or tenured Associate Professor in AI-As...
www.epfl.ch
October 28, 2025 at 2:56 AM
#EPFL has an open faculty position - tenure track or tenured!! - in AI driven biophysics. Deadline is Nov 15th. Please spread the word!
www.epfl.ch/about/workin...
www.epfl.ch/about/workin...
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
🧠 Thrilled to share our NeuroView with Ellie Pavlick!
"From Prediction to Understanding: Will AI Foundation Models Transform Brain Science?"
AI foundation models are coming to neuroscience—if scaling laws hold, predictive power will be unprecedented.
But is that enough?
Thread 🧵👇
"From Prediction to Understanding: Will AI Foundation Models Transform Brain Science?"
AI foundation models are coming to neuroscience—if scaling laws hold, predictive power will be unprecedented.
But is that enough?
Thread 🧵👇
October 24, 2025 at 11:22 AM
🧠 Thrilled to share our NeuroView with Ellie Pavlick!
"From Prediction to Understanding: Will AI Foundation Models Transform Brain Science?"
AI foundation models are coming to neuroscience—if scaling laws hold, predictive power will be unprecedented.
But is that enough?
Thread 🧵👇
"From Prediction to Understanding: Will AI Foundation Models Transform Brain Science?"
AI foundation models are coming to neuroscience—if scaling laws hold, predictive power will be unprecedented.
But is that enough?
Thread 🧵👇
Reposted by Joao Barbosa
We further show that RNNs with different activation functions exhibit distinct dynamics, as characterized by the configuration of fixed points and trajectory end points, with tanh RNNs consistently displaying significant divergence from ReLU and sigmoid ones.
October 24, 2025 at 7:14 PM
We further show that RNNs with different activation functions exhibit distinct dynamics, as characterized by the configuration of fixed points and trajectory end points, with tanh RNNs consistently displaying significant divergence from ReLU and sigmoid ones.